Monthly Archives: December 2008

(This is the ninth in a series of entries drawing analogies between experiences that Ambassador Joseph Grew shared about in his book Ten Years in Japan and practical aspects of being an ambassador for Jesus Christ)

Ambassador Grew had some very challenging situations to address during his years of representing the United States to Japan. In his diary he wrote about the frustration of dealing with people who were deceived, but didn’t realize it, and refused to believe the truth.

In the early 1930’s Japan was being very aggressive toward her neighbors (especially by invading Manchuria), and this aggression had resulted in Japan’s violation of at least three treaties â€“ one of which they had signed, along with many other nations, just a few years prior in 1928. And yet most Japanese people refused to believe that their nation was being hostile, and instead felt they were in full compliance with all treaties. Ambassador Grew wrestled with the challenge of trying to speak truth to those with whom he interacted so that they could understand what was right and true. At one point he wrote that he knew very, very few Japanese who would be willing to say, “Yes, we’ve broken every one of those treaties by invading Manchuria, and our argument of â€˜self-defense’ was a joke, but, we needed Manchuria, and that is that.” The great majority of Japanese believed that their actions were in the right, that they had not violated any treaties, that they were not starting any wars, and that their aggressive incursions were actually designed to promote and spread peace upon the earth.

Ambassador Grew wrote that dealing with someone who is deceived is much harder than dealing with someone, no matter how brazen, who will openly admit that he has done wrong.

While Ambassador Grew pointed out the challenge, he didn’t offer any specific counsel that would assist us in being ambassadors for Christ.

Jesus was our ultimate example in everything, and it is interesting to see His interactions with two types of people during His time on earth: the self-righteous and very religious Pharisees who would not admit their sin, and the “sinners” of His day (tax-collectors, fornicators, etc.) who readily acknowledged their wrong-doing. We know that “all have sinned” (Romans 3:23), and we see Jesus pointing out the sin in both types of people.

One type of people primarily rejected His admonitions while the other group tended to humbly accept His Words. One group fought against Him, while the other group sought to be near Him. One group tried to have Him killed, and the other group wept when He died. One group wanted to cover up His resurrection, while the other group rejoiced at the news He was alive. Through it all, one type of people vehemently proclaimed their righteousness and denied their wrongdoing, while the other group humbly acknowledged their sin, repented of it, and believed in the Savior.

Jesus patiently and lovingly worked with each group, and yet we see that it was truly much harder and there appeared to be less visible fruit when dealing with those who were deceived. First off, I would hope that none of us are in the group of people who are living a sinful (but perhaps religious) lifestyle while either refusing to acknowledge sin or being deceived into not seeing the sin (Galatians 5:13).

Next, we can realize that as we interact with others, there will be some who will readily acknowledge their sin, while others, for whatever reason, will not. The purpose of the law is to show a person his need for a Savior: “Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith” (Galatians 3:24).

Whether or not someone believes he has broken God’s law, our role as ambassadors is to gently seek to share truth with him: “And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient” (2 Timothy 2:24), so that he will be reconciled to God (2 Corinthians 5:19-20).

For us, then, the key is not to become weary in well doing. “And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not” (Galatians 6:9).

Let us not be surprised that there are people who have hard hearts and are unwilling to acknowledge or see their sin, and as a result areÂ less likely to repent and believe in the Savior. That has always been the case: whether it was Jesus ministering to the proud, religious, yet sinful Pharisees of his day, or Ambassador Grew seeking to represent the United States to Japan in the early 1930’s. May we simply continue to share with everyone that the Lord brings into our lives, about Jesus, the Savior of our souls, and entrust the results to Him.

For many years, we as a family have celebrated Christmas together on Christmas Eve day. Then, on Christmas, we have a quiet day, including a special visit to our friends at the nursing home.

Someone asked what we typically give for gifts. We work to give practical gifts such as clothes, things in the kitchen for Mom, tools for the guys, sewing items for the girls, etc.

Abigail was the cutest "centerpiece" we have ever had on Christmas Eve morning!Abigail's just not sure about hats.We try to do practical gifts. Here Joseph received some Carhart pants!"Hi, Uncle Joseph." (the photographer on this one)Opening a gift on Grandma's lap.Anna in the kitchen.Christopher and Mary

A special highlight was going to the nursing home Christmas afternoon. Many had visitors or were gone to be with family, but we still found several to bring into the dining room so that we could sing carols and visit.Â We also brought fresh chocolate chip cookies to the workers.

We brought two baskets to the nursing home. One held the gifts (hand lotion and aftershave) and the other had the cookies.We had some ice and snow yesterday, so I went out to take some pictures. My favorite part of an ice storm is when the sun shines, and the trees sparkle in a dazzling way. It's just beautiful. Truly, God's creation is a marvel.Ice glazed branches.

Sarah for the family

“And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word…” (Luke 1:38).

We decided it was time to move the shrink-wrap machine from our current house to the new house. It is an extremely heavy machine, and it took Nathan, Christopher, Joseph, and John to get it up the stairs.They put the machine on the pallet jack to take over to the new house.

We had an early mini-Christmas with my grandparents, since they’ll be visiting my aunt and uncle for Christmas. Here are some pictures you might enjoy 🙂 .

"Is this for me, Mommy?"Abigail's favorite part was the least expensive part--the wrapping paper. What good is something unless you can taste it?!Aunt Anna playing with Abigail.Where is the baby?!! (See her little feet sticking out from under the paper?)Grandma blesses us with doing lots of our ironing before trips. You should see all the clothes we send over 🙂 . We bought her a new ironing board for Christmas!Anna and I -- matching.Grandma and AbigailAunt Mary and Abigail. Those teething rings make Abigail's face pucker up.

Sarah for the family

“For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:11).

As Sunday drew near, and the weather looked quite interesting, we decided to go ahead with caroling, even though the temperature was to drop 30+ degrees and have wind chills hardly above zero.

The first batch of cinnamon bread was started promptly after we came home from church, and the baking continued throughout the afternoon.

Abigail didn't help, but she was happily held by others. Here she is enjoying her teething ring.Bread rising!We went through lots of gooey, rich filling, and Mom was a wonderful help by mixing up several batches for us.By the time one batch of bread was rolled out with filling, it seemed like the next batch was ready!Mixing up our fourth and final batch!Rolling the dough out.

By 5:30, most of the 36 loaves of bread were ready, and family members donned layers and layers of winter clothing. One batch took longer to bake, so Anna and I stayed behind to finish those while the rest began caroling. Candles were quickly extinguished by the wind, so those were left behind after the first few houses. Nathan drove their mini-van with the extra bread, and sometimes several hitched rides in the van from place to place. (Someone in our family had a traumatic Saturday evening, because they stepped on a rusty nail, and we had to take them to an urgent care place to get a tetanus shot. The person managed to make it around for caroling, walking very carefully on the injured foot.)

We frosted the loaves with a cream cheese frosting--yummy!Anna hole-punched each card, and then wrapped pretty Christmas ribbon around each loaf, attaching the card to it.Front of the cardInside of the card.Here are most of the loaves, minus the nine we were still finishing up.See how bundled we were? Guess who this one is?!

As we went from house to house, some of the comments were, â€œWe look forward to this every year!â€ to â€œThis is the highlight of our Christmas seasonâ€ to â€œCouldnâ€™t you have picked a warmer evening? This is the coldest of the year!â€ to â€œWould you like to step in?â€ (which we declinedâ€”we were so layered/bundled up, we would roast!), to â€œIâ€™ve been waiting for you!â€ to our favorite, â€œThis is the best Christmas present Iâ€™ve ever ever had!â€

I brought my little camera in my pocket, and I took this picture. Joseph played his guitar to accompany the music, and with the temperatures, it was amazing he could do it! We had purchased some inexpensive hand warmers which helped him, and he used gloves with the finger tips cut off so that he could still fret, but the rest of his hand would stay semi-warm. It started to snow as we caroled--it was PERFECTLY scenic! By the time we had finished, there was snow all over the ground, and it was beautiful.

We delight in going to 40 homes in our neighborhood (and a few outside the area) each year. We hear lots of positive feedback from those we go to, but, our hearts are blessed as well! It is something that we look forward to every year, and itâ€™s truly a highlight to our Christmas season.

We would encourage you also to consider taking an evening and blessing those around you.

Rejoicing in Jesus,
Sarah for the family
â€œO come, let us sing unto the LORD: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation.â€ Psalms 95:1

It’s a quiet Christmas season here at the Maxwell house. Life is staying busy with house work, school work, and normal things 🙂 . We are preparing to carol to over 30 neighbors/friends’ homes either this Sunday evening or the next. May our hearts be focused on our Lord and Savior. What a precious, precious gift HE is!

The book case is coming along. Here Joseph is measuring (I think the cutting came next).The boys had to do sanding.Staining the book case.John and Jesse staining.Two sweet little girls, Rebekah and Abigail, sent this brightly colored blanket for Abigail. You girls did a GREAT job!Nathan had to work late tonight, so Abigail and Melanie joined us for the evening."Thanks, Uncle John!"Abigail loves the basket of toys at our house. "Hmmm... What toy should I get next?!"There is always someone to keep Abigail's attention.Abigail is a girl through and through. She loves to play with hair, and she is especially thrilled if you wear ribbons in your hair 🙂 .I had laid my camera down, and OH, Abigail caught sight of it!I left the camera on the floor to take this picture."Please, Aunt Sarah!"

~Sarah for the family

“For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6).

We are always on the look-out for simple Christmas decorations that give honor to the Lord Jesus Christ. A number of years ago Dad created a cross for the front of our house, and this year we added some lights to it so that it is illuminated at night.

It is a very easy-to-make, beautiful, and inexpensive Christmas decoration.

This is what the cross looks like during the day. And I really like the way it looks at night!Here is the garland-cross at night.

When Dad made the cross, he used:

Two dowels

A garland

Several bows

And some wire

Here is the back of the wreath with the wire on the ground next to it. The wire had a handwritten price tag on it: $.99

This is the end of one of the dowels and also happens to be where the string of lights ends.